Santino Marella will never be considered a wrestling machine.
Since he has a comedic character, a lot of people are unaware that Marella is actually an excellent in-ring performer. Those that watched his work while he was doing a serious character down in OVW (Ohio Valley Wrestling) know that he has a lot more skills in the ring than he's being allowed to show. In fact, these very fans are the ones that are begging Vince McMahon to let him loose.
Well, that's not going to happen.
Marella is far more valuable to the company in his current role. Fans can relate to him because he makes them laugh. That's the reason why he's on Monday Night Raw every week. He's there solely for the entertainment aspect.
People are willing to pay money to see Marella do his comedic bit. They're less likely to pay money to see him putting on four- and five-star matches. Just take a look at Bryan Danielson. He's one of the more heralded in-ring performers in the world, but he's not going to increase ratings or boost revenue because of his matches.
WWE will continue to use him to perform skits with celebrities. He'll be used in comedic angles with other wrestlers. Marella will be given title belts only if the writers feel that they can use the title as a prop for a storyline (i.e. Marella being given the tag-team titles to further his storyline with Tamia).
Just face it. You will never see the Marella that was once compared to Kurt Angle.
Jack Windham is the lead writer at WrestlingRevealed.com.